Car/stopped +Check EV System warning msg AFTER recall update

[dlca1]

Let me know if I should merge this with the existing Check EV System warning message. Thought it might valuable for others to know that the firmware upgrade DOES NOT fix the car stalling/Check EV system warning problem.

Our 2013 Toyota Rav4 EV had the factory recall/firmware update applied last month. Last night, the car suddenly lost power on the freeway (880). Luckily she was able to coast off the off-ramp. She was stuck ON a busy off-ramp during traffic for an hour before a police person stopped to help and pushed her. She had immediately called Toyota Roadside assistance and they took 3 hours to arrive. 1.5 hours AFTER the scheduled time.

We tried restarting the car 20-30 times. Every time it was put in Drive, the Check EV System warning message popped back up.

What options are available for Toyota to buy back the lease? I don't want my wife driving this car anymore.

 

[Larry_in_Seattle]

Very sorry to hear that. Glad that nothing worse happened, but that was certainly bad enough.

Quick question: Had you had the problem before or had the car been trouble free up until they "fixed" it?

 

[dlca1]

Quick question: Had you had the problem before or had the car been trouble free up until they "fixed" it?

Ironically, the car was fine and trouble-free prior to the "update".

 

[davewill]

Ironically, the car was fine and trouble-free prior to the "update".

So based on ONE incident you're ready to ready to get rid of it? :roll:

 

[dlca1]

Ironically, the car was fine and trouble-free prior to the "update".

So based on ONE incident you're ready to ready to get rid of it? :roll:

Ironically, the car was fine and trouble-free prior to the "update".

So based on ONE incident you're ready to ready to get rid of it? :roll:

Yeah. Wouldn't want that to happen again to my wife, especially if our two little toddlers were in there. Would rather drive a less fun/more reliable car than one that could stall on you at any time.

 

[Larry_in_Seattle]

If it were my wife's car, with similar circumstances (young kids), I'd feel the same way. In my case the RAV4 EV is my primary vehicle, and I'd be totally pissed off if the same thing happened, but wouldn't be looking to get rid of the car. Reliability alone IS a 100% valid reason to keep or dump a car.

 

[DevinL]

Ironically, the car was fine and trouble-free prior to the "update".

So based on ONE incident you're ready to ready to get rid of it? :roll:

Based on one incident that was supposed to be explicitly resolved by a recall fix, and is a problem that many owners have experienced. We don't know the exact cause of this problem but what's becoming clear is Toyota is having a hard time keeping these cars reliably on the road.

I think it's a fair reaction.

 

[miimura]

Until they pull the codes, you don't know it was a Speed Sensor failure related to the recall. It could be that the Gateway ECU failed, coincidentally a month after they put the recall firmware in it. Nonetheless, a very bad situation for this owner.

 

[user 340]

Until they pull the codes, you don't know it was a Speed Sensor failure related to the recall. It could be that the Gateway ECU failed, coincidentally a month after they put the recall firmware in it. Nonetheless, a very bad situation for this owner.

+1 to this. Another component (inverter, motor, whatever) may have failed also. This may be likely given that the car was not able to clear the error and restart after multiple power cycles.

 

[cwerdna]

In the absence of user error, please file a safety complaint w/NHTSA at http://www.safercar.gov/, preferably after they've attempted to resolve the issue. Also, indicate which exactly applicable recall fix(es) you had applied already (e.g. include the campaign #).

 

[branstone]

SO any other car you buy will of course never have a problem, break down on the freeway. OF course ! because the RAV4EV is the only car on the road that can breakdown unexpectedly....... All other cars are perfect


ughhhh

 

[DevinL]

SO any other car you buy will of course never have a problem, break down on the freeway. OF course ! because the RAV4EV is the only car on the road that can breakdown unexpectedly....... All other cars are perfect


ughhhh

:roll:

Nobody's saying that. What we're saying is that the odds of breaking down on the freeway in a RAV4 EV must be very high when compared to other 2012-2014 cars (no hard data here so can't say for sure). Toyota is having trouble fixing the problems with this car and that's become a worry for many owners. This is particularly unusual for Toyota which has a reputation for reliability. Needless to say we're not all happy about this and we think Toyota has a duty to owners to make their cars work as promised and to the same standard that other non-EV Toyotas are held.

 

[4EVEREV]

SO any other car you buy will of course never have a problem, break down on the freeway. OF course ! because the RAV4EV is the only car on the road that can breakdown unexpectedly....... All other cars are perfect


ughhhh

:roll:

Nobody's saying that. What we're saying is that the odds of breaking down on the freeway in a RAV4 EV must be very high when compared to other 2012-2014 cars (no hard data here so can't say for sure). Toyota is having trouble fixing the problems with this car and that's become a worry for many owners. This is particularly unusual for Toyota which has a reputation for reliability. Needless to say we're not all happy about this and we think Toyota has a duty to owners to make their cars work as promised and to the same standard that other non-EV Toyotas are held.

Corporations work on the bottom line cost and since the public could care less about RAV4 EV repairs as there are so few numbers it is easier to play the cat and mouse game on repairs. The easy strategy is for toyota to buy them back delay until the lease is over and junk them or sell them with no coverage.

 

[Larry_in_Seattle]

"Corporations work on the bottom line cost and since the public could care less about RAV4 EV repairs as there are so few numbers it is easier to play the cat and mouse game on repairs. The easy strategy is for toyota to buy them back delay until the lease is over and junk them or sell them with no coverage."

Sure seems to be the case.

I'm in Seattle. Took my car to the service department at Toyota of Lake City and although one of the service reps said "We're not even allowed to touch those vehicles", two others said they'd push it forward. They set up an appointment JUST so that it would be in the system and would represent a real job rather than just a request. They "Said" that they would ask Corporate (don't know if that's regional corporate or National) because this IS a safety recall, not a regular EV service.

This morning (Monday 10/5) they called back and said they were told that they couldn't do the work and told me to take it to California! I had told them repeatedly to ask for having a technician sent from CA to do the work, knowing Toyota wouldn't want untrained folks doing it. Have no idea if they even asked that. I doubt it. I also told them that I had several other owners already lined up to have the exact same recall work done so that they could do multiple recall repairs the same day.

What to do? (Is there a pinned message with the 1 national guy who has helped other RAV4 EV owners out of state? Could somebody point me to it, or post it again? Thank you!)

 

[dlca1]

SO any other car you buy will of course never have a problem, break down on the freeway. OF course ! because the RAV4EV is the only car on the road that can breakdown unexpectedly....... All other cars are perfect


ughhhh

True, all cars can breakdown unexpectedly. Fluke events happen. HOWEVER, I believe it is important to consider the percentage/frequency of owners reporting that the Toyota Rav4 EV is suddenly stopping while driving. How often are other 1-3 year old cars (Toyota Camry, Chevy, BMW, Tesla, etc) experiencing breakdowns WHILE driving?

It is a small sample, but it is statistically significant.

I've read reports of this happening to quite a few other folks. I personally only know 4 people who own the Toyota RAV4 EV. Myself, two other childhood friends of 20+ years and Dianne, the salesperson who sold me our car.
100% of us have experienced the Toyota RAV4 EV losing power while driving.

Others may want to bury their head in the sand, but the stats scare the heck out of me.

I'm trying to raise awareness because I'm worried the recall will just give people a false sense of confidence. It's a safety disaster waiting to happen, but it is cheaper for Toyota Corporate to just roll the dice. When I first report the problem to several Toyota related folks, the response was always a confident. "oh don't worry. There is a factory recall to address that issue". I then follow-up with the second piece of information, which is that I already had the recall update performed.

 

[TonyWilliams]

What to do? (Is there a pinned message with the 1 national guy who has helped other RAV4 EV owners out of state? Could somebody point me to it, or post it again? Thank you!)

Particularly for out-of-state issues, please call / write Kevin Spillane <kevin_spillane (((at))) toyota.com>

phone: 800-331-4331

 

[4EVEREV]

SO any other car you buy will of course never have a problem, break down on the freeway. OF course ! because the RAV4EV is the only car on the road that can breakdown unexpectedly....... All other cars are perfect


ughhhh

True, all cars can breakdown unexpectedly. Fluke events happen. HOWEVER, I believe it is important to consider the percentage/frequency of owners reporting that the Toyota Rav4 EV is suddenly stopping while driving. How often are other 1-3 year old cars (Toyota Camry, Chevy, BMW, Tesla, etc) experiencing breakdowns WHILE driving?

It is a small sample, but it is statistically significant.

I've read reports of this happening to quite a few other folks. I personally only know 4 people who own the Toyota RAV4 EV. Myself, two other childhood friends of 20+ years and Dianne, the salesperson who sold me our car.
100% of us have experienced the Toyota RAV4 EV losing power while driving.

Others may want to bury their head in the sand, but the stats scare the heck out of me.

I'm trying to raise awareness because I'm worried the recall will just give people a false sense of confidence. It's a safety disaster waiting to happen, but it is cheaper for Toyota Corporate to just roll the dice. When I first report the problem to several Toyota related folks, the response was always a confident. "oh don't worry. There is a factory recall to address that issue". I then follow-up with the second piece of information, which is that I already had the recall update performed.

I see new BMW and Range Rovers on the side of the road often. There are just not enough cars to work out or fix the issues like on other high volume cars. On the flip side no issues here and I know of others not on the forum with no issues.

 

[Larry_in_Seattle]

Thanks for Kevin's contact info.

I also found this 'regular' number listed as his direct one: 310-974-7545

Got a terrible sore throat and no voice today so will call him when I don't sound like a half croaked frog.

 

[JasonA]

I'm so glad I'm never taking my car in to get this recall work or wiper stuff done. Mine has been perfect! (except for the noisy motor which was fixed -thanks Carson! )

But DAMN there are sooooooo many horror stories out there. That sucks. I'm sorry to hear that.

 

[EVBill]

There's a lot to be said for not touching something that works.

Just to be clear regarding the title of this thread and the EV System warning, the EV System warning is like a check engine light and will come on for numerous issues besides that involving the recall.

I recently had the EV System warning come on after the charging stopped shortly after starting. Turns out the coolant pump went out. As a side issue, when I called Carson Toyota to ask if they felt it was safe to drive the 40 miles to the dealership the service advisor said no problem it's the charging system and that will not affect the ability to drive it. I only made it a few miles down the road before I got the message that the car was going into reduced power mode. The mechanic at Carson previously replaced my motor and I was quite pleased with the service, but that's the last time I listen to a service advisor.